Busted my cherry today on a small ulua. About an 8 lb+ 'omilu (smallest of the ulua, or trevally)taken trolling an 'opelu (mackerel scad) with a small squid skirt (king king) in front to cover up swivel hardware.

Fortunately had an experienced kayak fishing partner. The fish ripped off some line, and while I managed to get the hook set, ended up being towed backwards. My buddy screaming at me to get the rod pointed at the front of the yak. Well I couldn't the line was caught on the rudder! I pedalled a bit, but then the fish just took line off against the drag, so I decided to at least get my first ride.

Here I am the owner of the Adventure, and he's the one that reminded me I could flip the rudder up. Which I did and freed the line. Quite a backward ride there for awhile.

Next time I'll pop the rudder hard port (my forward rod holder on that side) before grabbing the rod and flip the rudder up pronto.

But reviewing the rudder lesson afterward kind of got me thinking. What do you do with the Mirage drive. Leave the fins down? True there may be a greater chance of your line catching, but then again if you have the fins up against the hull what if the line slides in there? Probably a worse disaster.

What are the ocean guys doing with big fish. How are you fighting them in your Adventure? Drive up against the hull or straight down.

For those with a different Mirage yak, do you pop the rudder up? What is your drive positioning?

Many locals do. I intended to do so as inadvertantly as a newbieI got it up to the surface too quick and we could not get the air bladder to deflate with a needle. Too many tigers around to leave it on the surface next to our yaks.

My test kit literally failed it's own test (you test the test kit first). So they are "mailing" me a new one. Thanks! In the meantime the fish went south! The test kit is a sore point here in Hawaii ($30 for three tests) as it was developed with tax payers money at UH.

Dan,
Nice fish! For me, that is a huge advantage of the Mirage drive--the ability to fight and follow a fish, and to (hopefully) avoid gettiing tangled up. Although, as you found, it is not always possible to get the bow around in time, I immediately crank the rudder over hard to port or to starboard and begin pedaling furiously to come about and get the bow aimed in the direction the fish is going. That is with both the rudder and fins down. Of course if the fish makes a sudden jog back under the yak, then you have to adjust--just relax the drag and let the fish run a bit while you then try to get re-oriented with the yak. You also may have to fold the fins flat against the hull and pull the rudder up depending on the situation. But, ain't it fun?!
Best,
Dick